"One of the Best Memoirs I have ever read."

Thankful Strother's story of his life experiences is moving and profound. He does a remarkable job of bringing the reader into his world. While reading his stories, I felt like I was in the room with him and he was sharing the details of all of his adventures in the south and in Europe with me. I felt every emotion as I read the book. - Sydney LeBlanc

Off in the distance, you could hear the sound of automatic weapons firing late into the night. It reminded me of Fourth of July firecrackers all going off at the same time. The noise would be so loud and then suddenly stop. Silence for a few minutes, and it would start all over again. Each subsequent time, it would seem to get louder. That is where the similarity with the Fourth of July ended.

Detroit was burning, and there weren’t enough policemen, firemen, or equipment to put out all of the fires and arrest all of the looters. We heard the sound of fire trucks and police sirens and someone speaking on loudspeakers. The smell of smoke from the fires that had been set all over the city left you wondering how long it would be before the worst of the riots would reach our side of town.

Things had gotten so out of control, and the Detroit police could not contain the riots. The Michigan National Guard had been activated but wasn’t able to make a difference. There was talk of calling up reserve military personal. When the riots broke out in July of 1967, my greatest fear was that I would be called up for active military duty as a reservist. I was eligible to be called until November 1967, two years from the date of my discharge from the US Air Force.

The mayor of Detroit asked for help from the federal government. The Eighty-second Airborne Division soldiers were sent to Detroit to stop the rioting. This was the same group of soldiers who had been fighting in Vietnam. It was dangerous, scary, and unbelievable. These soldiers patrolled every street in Detroit.

I had spent four years in the US Air Force, and during that time I hadn’t seen any combat, but back in the city of Detroit, I was living in a combat zone. As the soldiers walked past our houses, they were offered something cold to drink. They had been told not to get into discussions with the citizens and to keep moving.

The entire city was under a curfew. Everyone was asked to stay put until further notice. You were allowed to go places in the daytime, but you could not travel after dark. Things didn’t calm down for a solid week. Not before forty-three deaths, eleven hundred injuries, and over seven thousand arrests had occurred.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

I am Thankful Strother author of the Alien in the Delta Series. Download them from Amazon or ask for them in your local library. The Alien in the Delta Series come in e-books and paperback. Thank you for your support.

Writing my memoir was one of the most satisfying experiences in my life. It says that I was here and my family and friends will have something from me to remember. I encourage each of you to write about your life experiences. Reading my memoir series will provide you with an example or guide to follow and write your memoir. Good luck and start writing today.

"The Child" is the
first book in the three book series. It highlights the life of a boy from the age
of six until he graduates from high school at age seventeen. During that time
he discovers music, girls, sex, learns to dance, and becomes self-aware. This
book will put you in a nostalgic mood.

This book demonstrates well the concept that everyone has a story to be told. Drama/humor, love/hate, success/failure, happiness/sadness -- you want it? You have got it in this entertaining beginning of a life's memoirs. See how "The Child" compares to your own childhood. I feel today's adolescents would benefit from reading it.

"The Soldier" is the
second book in the series. Thankful Strother spent
four years in the United States Air Force. He was stationed in Germany during the cold war, where he learned to the German language, met
his future wife and traveled throughout Europe.
The book is filled with history from that time and many humorist situations.

"The Soldier" is a well-narrated and inspiring story. I like the non-pretenses style of this author. It is easy to grasp the inherent life concepts while experiencing along with the story-teller all the emotions that he must have encountered during this phase of his life. Young adults who are contemplating what kind of future they want for themselves might benefit from this reading this book.

"The Adult" is the third book in the series. Thankful returns home from Germany. He settles in Detroit, gets married, starts a family and buys their first house. He goes to work in the automotive industry, learns to program computers, enters the corporate world and becomes a successful manager and real estate investor.

What I like about this book is the opportunity to travel with the imagery throughout the geographical areas as well as the thought patterns and decisions of the characters and see how they lead to an economically successful life. "The Adult" is an interesting and easy read that can be done in one sitting by the average reader.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Thankful Strother born 1943 in Grand Lake, AR., grew up in Eudora AR. Graduated from high school in 1961 and joined the US Air Force. Stationed in Germany for four years, there he learned to speak German and met his wife Barbara. Married forty-nine years, they live in California and have two adult children. He retired in 2003. Thankful Strother had a thirty-five-year career in computers and telecommunications with NCR and AT&T. In his retirement, he has accomplished his goal to write a book about his early life. Alien in the Delta is that book. It is a memoir about growing up poor in a hostile environment in the 1950's to experience unimaginable success later in life.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

One night, the basketball teams
played out-of-town at a high school, which was thirty miles from where we
lived. After the girls basketball teams finished their game, a very tall girl
with light gray-blue eyes from the rival girls basketball team came over to me
and said.

Hey, boy, what’s your name”?

“Thankful.” I said

“What do your friends
call you? She asked.

“My friends call me Thee,” I said.

“I don’t like that
name.” “From now on, I’ll call you my boyfriend.” She said.

She was one of the most popular girls in her school and played on the ’girls’ basketball team. When she said that she wanted to be my
girlfriend, and I said okay. This was a great confidence builder for me
because she chose me, was two years older than me and a senior in high school.
She had been dating seniors, and now she chose me, and I was just a sophomore.
We only saw each other at basketball games or other school activities.

Our high school
basketball teams played the district championship games in her home town. We
stayed in that town as long as our team won. This gave me a chance to visit my
girlfriend at her home. She asked me to come over to her house at about 5:00
p.m. because her parents would not be home. When I arrived, she invited me in,
and we sat on the sofa and began kissing. We French kissed for a long time. By
now I was very proficient at French kissing. When we kissed, I tasted liquor on
her lips. Stopping to catch my breath, I noticed that her tongue was green. I
wondered if my tongue had turned green also. Was this some new kissing technique
I hadn’t heard about, one that turns your tongue green? After making a quick
assessment of the situation, I remembered how surprised and displeased I was,
seeing her green tongue and smelling the alcohol on her breath. She asked me to
have a drink of crème de menthe (a mint-flavored alcoholic
beverage) with her, and when I refused, she told me to leave her house.
I got up to leave, but she wouldn’t let me go and held on to my shirt. Finally
letting go of my shirt, she asked me not to leave. I realized that she was
tipsy. So I left the house anyway, and I never saw her again. However, she sent
me her picture and an invitation to her graduation ceremony. She had planned to
attend college in the fall. Thinking back on that situation, I would enjoy having
some crème de menthe on the rocks now.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

"The Child" is the first book in the series. It highlights the life of a boy from the age of six until he graduates from high school at age seventeen. It’s all about growing up and experiencing the facts of life. During that time he discovers music, girls, learns to dance, and becomes self-aware.

The series is a non-fiction account of Thankful Strother’s personal growth and approach to changing life situations as they occur. Everyone will relate to something in the series, it is very entertaining and easy to read, you are kept in suspense, anticipating what is going to happen next with the family relationships, the military, interracial romance, unimaginable obstacles and successes. You will feel like you are there with Thankful as he tells what happens with humor.